This invention relates to a laser beam pointing system, as adapted in two preferred embodiments for mounting on an aircraft and for subsequent use in and with the aircraft, and more particularly to a laser beam pointing device which is a major component of the system.
In mounting a laser weapon in an aircraft, the emitted laser beam must be pointed at the target through optics (i.e., optical means) that are gimballed. To date, development effort has been placed on the turret concept, i.e., the use of a movable enclosure on an aircraft, in which enclosure some or all of the optics may be or are compactly contained. The results of the practical application of this concept to a laser weapon is that the movable optics container is spherical in shape, and is attached, by suitable means, on and external of the aircraft. The turret (i.e., the movable optics container) must be mounted sufficiently clear of the aircraft, so that the laser beam can be pointed over wide angles without intersecting either the aircraft or the turret-to-aircraft attaching means. The resultant gaps between the turret and the attaching (i.e., mounting) means can cause, and have caused, severe aerodynamic buffeting or interferences that drastically increase the aircraft drag and/or degrade the quality of the laser beam at the target.
My invention (which, in essence, eliminates the turret and the attaching means external of the aircraft) permits the emitted laser beam to be projected by and through the optics (i.e., the optical means) thereof over a broad range of angles with little or no aerodynamic interference with the aircraft concerned. I have, thereby, significantly advanced the state-of-the-art.